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REPORT 



OF THE 



STATE HISTORIAN, 



APPOIMTBD 



"To prepare a Military History of the Organization of Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers and Militia," 



Agreeable to tlie Act of Assembly of May 4, 1864, 






mil 16 19: ; 

D. or a 






REPORT. 



State op Pennsylvania, Executive Office, 
Department op Military History, 

Harrisburg, December 15, 1866. 

To His Excellency, Andrew G. Curtin, 

Governor' of Pennsylvania : 

Sia: — Iq obedience to yoar instructions, and to the terms of the com- 
mission issued to me in conformity with the act of Assembly of May 4, 
1864, providing for the appointment of "some competent person to prepare 
a Military History of the Organization of Pfinnsvlvonia Volnnte<^rs and 
Militia," I entered upon the discharge of the duties intrusted to me on the 
first of June last. 

material for the work. 

My first care was to ascertain, as accurately as possible, the nature and 
extent of the material at command, and to consider the best method of ob- 
taining such additional information, as would be necessary to possess, i^ 
order successfully to prosecute the work. 

To this end a collection was commenced of Executive Documents mes- 
sages, laws and resolutions passed by the Legislature, orders and reports 
of executive officers, official letters- and telegrams, and reports of State 
agents in various capacities. A correspondence was entered into with mili- 
tary officials in each of the loyal States, and copies of reports and documents 
published during the last three years, were solicited, whereby a laro-e mass 
of interesting matter has been collected, which will serve an important pur- 
pose in the prosecution of this co-ordinate branch of labor. 

Application was also made for information and printed documents to the 
Secretary of War, Adjutant General, Surgeon General, Quartermaster 
General, and Clerk of the House of Representatives at Washiuo-ton to 
which responses were received of the most cordial character, and publica- 
tions of vast interest and importance were promptly forwarded. 

In addition to these public sources of information, a collection has been 
made of Histories of the Rebellion, both loyal and confederate, serial Re- 



4 a:n^nfal report of the 

cords and Gazettes, Histories of Army Corps, Divisioas and Regiments, 
publications of the Christian and Sanitary Commissions, and Maps and 
Political Digests, all of which will prove valuable auxiliaries, as works of 
reference, and in the verification of important facts. 

A few manuscript monographes have been received from commanders of 
regiments, which are filed, and the material will be used in making up the 
particular histories. 

The matter thus collected was first examined in a general way, and duly 
classified and arranged. The subjects were then taken up in their order, 
and those portions of the documents which bore upon the particular topic 
under consideration were attentively read, and copious notes made from 
them. By this method of procedure the composition of each part of the 
work becomes regular and systematic. 

PLAN OF THE WOEK. 

After an exaiiiination of the material thus far collected, and a study of 
the subject somewhat in detail, I have arrived at the conclusion, that the 
work should be prepared after the following plan, viz : 

*1. A general history of what the State accomplished during the period 
of the National troubles, and the material and persoaal aid rendered to the 
General Government for the successful prosecution of the war, — as shown 
by official proclamations, messages, orders, correspondence, records of sol- 
diers' aid societies, memoranda of material furnished for army and navy 
purposes from its mineral resources, — with some introductory matter illus- 
trative of the militia organization of the State previous to the breaking out 
pf the rebellion, of its population, its material resources, its physical fea- 
tures, and the contingencies which forced the General Government to call 
out the militia of the several States, 

2. A condensed history of each regiment, embracing an account of its 
origin, organization, instruction and drill, and its operations in the field, — 
drawn from ofl&cial records and reports, and such details and incidents as 
the officers can now furnish. 

3. A complete roll, comprising the name, age, rank, date of muster into 
.service, residence, period of enlistment, casualties, and final fate, of every 
officer and enlisted man, — drawn from the muster-out rolls, pay rolls, com- 
)jany books, and from such other subsequent legal evidence as can be ad- 
duced. A specimen page of this part of the work is herewith submitted. 

4. Biographical sketches of tl» executive officers of the government, offi- 
cers in the field, privates who distinguished themselves, and civilians, both 
mole and female, who rendered signal service to the State, and through it 
t^ the Nation, — collated from records, official acts, and reports, and as 
obtained by personal inquiry. 



STATE HISTORIAN. 5 

5. A Roll of Honor, composed of the names of those who died in the ser- 
vice, with the circumstances of their death and place of burial, prepared 
from documents issued from the office of the Quartermaster General of the 
United States, and from information to be obtained from the surviving rela- 
tives and comrades in arms. 

6. An alphabetical index to every name that occurs in the History, 

FORM OF THE WORK. 

By far the larger part of the work will be occupied by the rolls. The 
nature of the items embodied in these must determine the form of publica- 
tion. After due study and consultation, a company roll was prepared, and 
to test the matter fully, a single page was put in type. The result has con- 
firmed the opinion, that it should be published in royal quarto form, and 
that the rolls and letter-press should be uniform. 

ORDER OF PUBLICATION. 

The general history should properly form the first part of the work. In 
the preparation of this, considerable progress has already been made, some 
four or five chapters being nearly completed. But, as the investigation 
proceeds, new light is constantly being revealed, and additional facts are 
discovered which deserve to be considered. It is believed, therefore, that 
while the labor of collecting and digesting the material for this part of the 
work should be pushed vigorously forward, its publication should be delayed 
till the last. It is judged, that this properly prepared, will mo.ke one vol- 
ume. The publication can, therefore, commence with the second volume, 
and proceed with the histories and rolls of the regiments in their order, and 
let the first volume be the last issued. 

MATERIAL FOR THE HISTORY OF THE REGIMENTS. 

In the preparation of regimental histories, much reliance must necessarily 
be placed on the memoranda of facts furnished by the surviving officers. — 
To facilitate the collection of this material, it is proposed to prepare and 
publish a carefully considered account of some one regiment, which may 
serve as a model of the form, and as an illustration of the kind and extent 
of information needed. To obviate the difficulty, which might arise from 
lack of interest in the work, or delay in responding, a series of questions 
will be prepared to accompany the call for information, calculated to elicit 
the material facts needed, with suitable blanks for the answers, 

PREPARATION OF THE ROLLS. 

A large proportion of the muster-out rolls of the regiments, deposited in 
the office of the Adjutant General of the State, are tolerably complete.— ^ 



6 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 

The material facts needed for the History can be obtained from these ; 
though it will be necessary to consult other records for their verification. 

Judging by the time consumed in the preparation of the company roll, 
intended as a guide in the printing of blanks, and as copy for a specimen 
page, it is estimated that it will require at least three days labor to tabu- 
larize, and copy the roll of a single company, and make the alphabetical 
index required. It will, therefore, require the labor of a clerk for five 
weeks to prepare the rolls of a single regiment, and to prepare the rolls of 
ten regiments may be set down as a fair estimate for a year's labor. There 
are on the records, in the office of the Adjutant General, two hundred and 
fifteen regimental organizations. 

From this estimate, an intelligent idea can be formed of the clerical labor 
to be performed. Some of the rolls in the Adjutant General's office are 
defective, and those of some regiments were never deposited there. Copies 
of these must be obtained from the records of the War Departmoct at 
Washington. 

In view of these facts, it is recommended that provision be made for the 
appointment of six clerks, and a messenger as at present. 

ROLL OF HONOR. 

Pennsylvania soldiers, who fell victims of the rebellion, are numbered by 
thousands. They lie scattered on nearly all the battle-fields of the war. — 
They sleep in the crowded graves around the wretched prison-pens where 
they suffered, lingered and died. They fought, they endured, they per- 
ished in humble obedience to their country's call. 
' ' Wlien can their glory fade ? ' ' 

It is but just to the memory of these brave men, that a careful record of 
the circumstances attending their death, and the place of their burial, shquld 
be set in an enduring memorial. The recently published records of the 
General Government disclose the name, number of grave, rank, regiment, 
company, and date of death, of all those in the national armies who died, 
and are now buried in the national cemeteries. From these pamphlets, the 
names of Pennsylvania soldiers can be collated and arranged, and with 
such other information as can be obtained, a record reasonably satisfactory 
can be made. 

Justice to the living, as well as to the dead, who had a part in this great 
I warfare, demands that this whole work should be faithfully done. From 
I the little experience thus far had, it is clearly seen, that to execute the task 
with fidelity, according to the plan here submitted, will require careful in- 
, vestigation and unclouded judgment. In view of the vast strain to which 
I the resources of the State have been subjected, and the heart throbbings 



STATE HISTORIAN. 7 

and heart breakings, which her people have endured, it cannot be permitted 
that any part of the work should be carelessly or imperfectly done. The 
yearnings of father, mother, sister, brother, towards the absent one in the 
field, and the prayers and tears amidst which he was remembered while on 
the march, in the bivouac, and in the battle, are the most s%|Cred fruits of 
these dread years of war. The gleaner in such a harvest should tread re- 
verently and gather devotedly. 

The wisdom of the Legislature, in providing for the publication of such 
a work, is clearly manifest. The record of the thoughts and the deeds of 
a people, forms the only enduring monument of their glory. The retreat 
of the ten thousand, and the heroism of the three hundred who bled at 
Thermopylae, are fresh in Grecian story. The soldiers of Pennsylvania 
were everywhere valiant and brave, and the alacrity with which they sprang 
to arms upon the first cry of danger, forms one of the brightest pages in her 
history. The State but secures and perpetuates her own renown, when 
she repeats and places in enduring form, a simple record of the heroism of 
her sons. The survivors of the conflict will revert to it with pride in 
trembling age, and their children and their children's children, to the latest 
generations, will proclaim with exultation, "An ancestor, whose name I 
bear, was with Grant at Vicksburg, with Thomas at Chattanooga, or he 
followed Sherman in his march to the sea, or fought with Mead on the im- 
mortal field of Gettysburg." 

Respectfully submitted. 

SAMUEL P. BATES, 

State Historian. 



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